Apartment Extension

Has anyone who has extended their apartment received a letter from the Town Hall Planning Department?

Hi there,

I can see nobody every got back to you regarding a letter from the Town Hall.  Did you ever get to the bottom of it?  We were told by MRI that there was no problem extending and it was a formality to add the extra bedroom to the deeds.  All the installation for the electric etc was already in place by the builder.  How have you got on?

Kind regards

Jane

Hello - I too have recently had a letter from the town hall - What action have people been taking since receiving the letters ??

Hi,

We have also received a letter. From the community minutes we saw that owners are appointing a solicitor to negotiate the fine. How has this progressed for you? Hvae you managed to negotiate a reduction?

Rachel

The remit has been to appeal to the town hall, it's got to be on the correct form and written in Spanish. They will then send a second letter advising you that the appeal is not successful. You make a further appeal and receive a further letter recorded delivery from the town hall telling you again the appeal has not been successful. You then receive a third & final letter requesting you pay the fine at which point you will need to pay.

We've also been advised not to go with the solicitor, given the cost of their services plus there is no guarantee that they will be successful. We did contact them but decided not to go this route. Best option is to play the delaying game until the pound strengthens against the Euro, either way you'll need to pay at some point unless you did get planning permission. 

G.

Hi, Thanks for letting me know. Where did you get the appeal form from?

Rachel

We received the form from the Town Hall in El Edijo at the back of the main square. If I recall the planning is on the second floor, the stairs are behind the information desk. The form is A4 and the box to fill in is very small, I'm sure you would be alright to reply in writing quoting the reference number, I did this with my last letter and handed it in at the reception desk, they stamp and record that it's been received. I normally supply two letters, one in Spanish and the other in English in case the translation is poor. At the moment I'm disputing the measurements quoted in the correspondance as no one has been to the property  to take measurements, when they record the size of the extension they take the outside measurments, even at this they seem to err in their favour.

G.

Thanks. We will write to the town hall. We are not in Spain at the moment, do you have an address for them?

Many thanks, your help is really appreciated

Rachel

Sorry I don't have the address as we handed our letters direct to the Town Hall, If you've an email address for the Fincal they maybe able to supply the address.

G.

Hi there, Can anyone give an idea of the amount of the fine?  and also once the fine has been paid, what happens then?  Its still not had planning permission, they are not going to grant it, so will the fine have to paid again as and when the townhall feel like it?

Hi, this is a once only fine. It does not give planning permission but anyone purchasing a property in Spain understands the process and will recognise the second bedroom. I would keep evidence of the payment so that you can prove that it is not outstanding.

Sorry I didnt get back to you earlier.  Thank you for your response, it puts my mind at rest for now. 

I have just come back from Alta Entinas and had a letter from  the Town Hall, I guess it's about the extension.  Does anyone know what the fine is?

The fine is based on the area of your extension.

Hi,

We had a letter about 1 year ago, and was told by the town hall that a second would be sent in March 2010. After the second letter a third would follow soon after and payment would be due.

To date we have not received the second letter, has anyone received the second letter yet ????

Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul,

We have just had word from our solicitor in Roquetas that they have received notification from El Eljido town hall that we have had the extra bedroom put on.  They have asked for funds immediately to act on our behalf saying that the town hall could freeze our bank account and also take the apartment away from us?  Surely it wouldnt come to this?

We havent seen any letters as we dont live at the apartment.  This is the first time we have had any communication from anyone about the extension.  Did you ever receive your second letter that you expected in March? 

We dont know whether to just go to El Eljido on our own as hollie leslie did and see what they say:   As the roof was already there, and the floor was already there (plus the electrics already in place behind the walls!)  Also the wall is not load bearing surely we would not need architects drawings for it anyway, as its a minor works licence.

What are your thoughts?

Jane

Hi Jayne

like you we only holiday at Alta Entinas and purchased the property from the crooks Mcanthony in 2005. We had the second bed converted and have photographs at the construction stage clearly showing pre installation of electrics, telephone and tv sockets and was told by Mcanthony and our lawyers Martinez-Echavarria that there would be no problem with the conversion. I have recieved no correspondence from the town hall regarding this conversion, we have just returned from Alta Entinas to find an email from the lawyers asking for 408 Euros to open our file because they have recieved notification from the town hall threatening sezuire of my bank account and possesion of my apartment. The other thing I have just found out is that although it is converted to a two bed  you can only sell it as a one bed because thats whats on the deeds, I have asked my lawyers to give me a cost to change the deeds from a one bed to a two, I am still awaiting a reply. As soon as I get any info I will keep you posted.

Peter

Update

Two weeks ago I had the dreaded letter in our post box at Alta Entinas with a fine for the second bedroom. I had heard that the fine can be reduced if you dont contest it. Not true, if you do not agree with the amount,  which is based on an average size,  then they will come and take exact measurements which will then determine whether you pay more or less. I decided to pay it as knowing our luck it would be more.  I called into the town hall, the office where the fine is sorted is just across the road from the main building, two of the staff are American so can help sort it.

As far as paying for it  the only choice is either all up front or divided into six monthly payments.  The first payment has to be in cash at the offices and the others can be paid into the Cajamar bank.  They will give you the details and paperwork when you take the first installment in.   If they do not receive payment by the agreed date  they will add 10% and if the next date passes they will add a further 20% and the interest is added daily. 

Thanks Jayne

How much is the fine

Peter